Stamp duties: NIPOST to produce adhesive stamps for FIRS collection

…Says Pantami was misquoted

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has called on tax payers to sustain payment of stamp duties and disclosed that NIPOST is merely yo produce adhesive stamps to aid collection. This follows recent reports that NIPOST is to collect stamp duties.

The Director, Communications and Liaison FIRS Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad  stated that the attention of the FIRS has been drawn to false publications in some newspapers and electronic/social media platforms misquoting a recent speech by the Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy on the administration of Stamp Duties in the country.

He stated that  for the avoidance of confusion arising from such publications, the FIRS hereby informs the general  public, especially  taxpayers, that the Honourable Minister was misquoted as saying that the administration of Stamp Duty was granted to NIPOST by the Finance Act 2020. “The speech attributed to the Honourable Minister was definitely, and unfortunately, quoted out-of-context.

For the record, the Honourable Minister merely stated that NIPOST would henceforth produce the ADHESIVE STAMPS required by FIRS to denote Stamp Duties. This position is in line with Section 2 of the Stamp Duties Act (as amended by Section 46 of the Finance Act 2020),” he said.

He urged taxpayers, tax practitioners and the general public to ignore this unfortunate attempt to cause confusion by twisting the Honourable Minister’s speech. He noted that the Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, is a patriot with unarguable passion for the rule of law and stability of the country.

“The FIRS remains the only federal agency permitted by law to collect Stamp Duties on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Therefore, the FIRS urges all taxpayers to disregard the aforementioned fake news and continue to pay their Stamp Duties charges to the FIRS nationwide,” he added